New US Secretary of State Marco Rubio affirmed the United States' "unwavering" support for Israel during a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This came according to a statement by US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce on Wednesday.

According to the statement, Rubio stressed that Washington's support for Tel Aviv is the "top priority" of US President Donald Trump.

Rubio congratulated Netanyahu on "Israel's successes against Hamas and Hezbollah" and pledged to continue working to release all prisoners in Gaza.

On Sunday/Monday night, Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners, all from the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, in exchange for Hamas releasing 3 Israeli civilian female prisoners.

This exchange came as part of the first phase of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas that began on Sunday, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, and is to last for 42 days, during which negotiations will take place to begin a second and then a third phase.

According to the US statement, the two sides discussed "threats" from Iran and said they would continue to work together on the issue.